Thranduil's Secret
by SkyFire2
Summary: Legolas comes home to Mirkwood after the Quest and Thranduil reveals to him a shocking secret.... O.O
1. Secret

Thranduil's Secret  
By SkyFire  
  
Rating: PG (mention of blood & guts... Bleh. *grin*)  
Summary: Legolas comes home to Mirkwood after the Quest and Thranduil reveals to him a shocking   
secret.... O_O  
  
A/N: 1)A short, two-part fic the plotbunnies came up with one day. Not quite sure how it happened,   
but here it is. Hope you like it. As always, reviews make happy plotbunnies, and happy   
plotbunnies write faster.... ;o)  
  
2)I wrote this a while back, only now getting around to posting it. I'm not entirely happy with   
it, but it wasn't getting any better just sitting there. *sigh*  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. *sob* Never were. *snifle* I'm keeping the Elf-clones I've got chained up   
in my bedr- ummm... *basement* though. *grin*  
  
*****  
Thranduil's Secret  
By SkyFire  
  
"Sire! Legolas is returned!"  
  
Thranduil looked up abruptly at the cry, then rushed down off his throne and across the elegant   
throne room, pulling Legolas into his embrace as soon as he entered the room.  
  
"Ada," Legolas greeted warmly, hugging the king as tightly as he was being hugged. "I missed you."  
  
For long moments they embraced, then Thranduil pushed away, his eyes scanning the other's form   
for any injuries.  
  
//Head. Two arms, two legs, ten fingers. No obvious bandages or bruising.// Thranduil thought   
to himself in relief. //No limping, scarring, or disfiguration. Good... He is whole.//  
  
"Cancel the rest of the day's appointments," he told his chamberlain, ignoring the other's   
immediate protests. "I wish to spend time with Legolas."  
  
Arm in arm, the King and Prince of Mirkwood left for the private suite of the royal family.  
  
***  
  
Legolas smiled as they entered the sun-room. The wall of glass doors stood open, letting in the   
rain-fresh scent of the forest. Sunlight poured in through the skylights above, bathing the room   
in light and warmth.  
  
It had always been his favorite room in the whole of the palace complex; it was in this room that   
he could sometimes recall vague snatches of memory from a long time past, when his mother had   
still been living. Back before the strange sickness had taken her away from him when he was but   
a child.  
  
Following his father's lead, Legolas sat down upon the couch that was the favorite of both of   
them.  
  
Then Thranduil spoke.  
  
"Well, Legolas," he said simply. "it seems that you managed to turn a simple courier's errand   
into a grand adventure of the sort you were always dreaming about as a child." He chuckled at   
Legolas' sudden blush of embarrassment, the quick glance from suddenly nervous eyes.  
  
"I am not angry," he said, chuckling again at the immediate relief that flashed across Legolas'   
face. "It reminds me of something I would have done at your age. But come now, tell me of your   
adventure. I have had only vague reports of strangeness afoot, and not even that much after   
Celeborn and his forces returned to Lothlorien after helping us rid ourselves of Dol Guldur and   
its master once and for all."  
  
Quickly, in simple words, Legolas spoke of his journey to Rivendell, and of the gathering of what   
he had lately heard referred to as the Council of Elrond. He spoke of the forming of the   
Fellowship of the Ring and his part in it. Then he spoke of the Quest he and the others had   
undertaken; to destroy the One Ring of Sauron in the fires of Orodruin in Mordor.  
  
Every word Legolas spoke of the Quest saw Thranduil become paler and paler.  
  
At last, Legolas ended his retelling of his journeys with his arrival in Mirkwood and their   
palace.  
  
For a long moment afterward, Thranduil could do nothing but stare at the Elf sitting beside him,   
seeing him truly for the first time as the capable warrior he truly was, and not the young Elf   
that had shot his first arrow straight into the ground not three inches from one of his father's   
councillors. //He grew up,// he thought to himself in wonder. //He grew into a fine young Elf,   
and a great warrior.// Then reality grabbed hold of him again. //He was in the middle of a war   
against overwhelming numbers. A war, like the Last Alliance.//  
  
He could still remember the pain and horror of those days. Wielding his sword and knives long   
past exhaustion, until he saw the enemy only as a vague blur of objects to be cut to pieces,   
thick black blood spraying everywhere, covering him in disgusting stickiness that he only noticed   
afterward. Screaming until his voice went away when he saw his father, King Oropher of the   
Greenwood, cut down by the forces of the Dark Lord. And then more killing as his pain and rage   
took over his mind, killing and killing until there was nothing left to kill....  
  
So much death.  
  
//And now Legolas knows it, too.//  
  
He looked up dazedly as Legolas reached out a slender hand and laid it gently upon the king's arm.   
"Ada?" came the concerned voice.  
  
He reached out and hugged Legolas tightly to him. "You could have died," he said brokenly. "So   
many times, in so many ways. You could have died."  
  
Legolas was shocked to feel his usually-unshakable father trembling in his arms. "Ada," he said   
gently, soothingly, his hands running comfortingly over his father's back. "I am not dead. I am   
not hurt. I am well, Ada."  
  
"But you could have been killed," the king repeated. He hugged Legolas tighter. "And you would   
not have known..." He trailed off into silence, burying his face in the other's golden hair,   
inhaling the scent of his closest kin as he tried to calm himself.  
  
Legolas frowned, confused. He tried to pull back slightly. "Ada? What would I not have known?   
What is it?"  
  
Thranduil released the other from his tight hold, reached up to gently cup Legolas' cheek in his   
hand. "Legolas, this is not easy for me to say, and it will be hard for you to hear. But you   
are grown into a fine Elf and it is time that you know the secret that I have held close to me   
for these many long years." He drew a deep breath, released it heavily. "Please," he said,   
meeting the gaze of eyes that matched his own. "Do not think less of me for it."  
  
Truly concerned now, Legolas looked at his father with worried eyes, saw the distress clearly   
written on the other's face. "Whatever it is, I will always love you," he said gently. So   
strange, to be the one offering words of comfort; usually it was the other way around! He   
shrugged, smiled gently. "You are my Ada."  
  
Thranduil shivered, looked deep into the bright green eyes with his own troubled ones. One last,   
deep breath, then he spoke.  
  
"No, Legolas, I am not."  
  
.  
TBC in part 2/2...  
  
--  
o_O Oooh! What do you think of *that*? *grin* Tell me true: Did you see it coming? Any guesses   
how this is going to turn out? ;oP  
  
Click the button down there and leave the plotbunnnies and I some reviews! ;o) 


	2. Revelation

Thranduil's Secret  
By SkyFire  
  
A/N: 1)Warning: Sap! Sap! Aaaaaah! Save me from sappy plotbunnies! Help!  
2)I'm considering making another version of this second half; another ending for part 1. Or   
several; I'm not sure. Part 1 would stay the same, then there would be multiple endings. Good   
idea? Yes? No? Maybe? Let the plotbunnies know! :o)  
  
--  
louise: That *was* one of my first thoughts... might still happen... ;o)  
--  
addicted: *groan* ;oP  
--  
Trin: *choking* If you throttle me, I can't post! *evil grin*  
--  
Everybody else: I'm glad you all are enjoying it this much! The plotbunnies thank you for your   
reviews! And so do I! :oD  
--  
  
For Disclaimer, see part 1.  
  
.  
*****  
Thranduil's Secret  
By SkyFire  
  
Part 2  
  
Legolas blinked, stared. "You are not?"  
  
Then it sank in.  
  
His eyes widened. "You are not my Ada? But..." He gestured helplessly at the room. "All this?   
None of it truly belongs to me by right of birth? None of it...?"  
  
Thranduil raised a hand for silence. Now that he had spoken the words, the worst of the tension   
had left him, relieving him of a weight he had not even known he was carrying.  
  
"I said that you are not my son," he said. "But you *are* a part of this family by birth."  
  
He sighed heavily, grasping for the right words to clear the stricken expression from Legolas'   
face, lighten the confusion-darkened eyes. "Let me explain. It happened at the beginning of the   
Third Age. I had just returned from the Last Alliance. My father and two-thirds of the Elves we   
had led were dead--"  
  
***  
  
Thranduil, newly returned to the palace in the Elven kingdom of Greenwood the Great, walked   
slowly down the smooth stone corridors to the private suite of the royal family. His steps   
slowed even further the closer he got to the family's private sitting room.  
  
An outside room, the sitting room's outside wall was lined with glass doors that let out onto the   
wide outside balcony. When all the doors were open, the transition between inside and outside   
could barely be seen; especially with all his mother's plants growing in there. Sun filled the   
room for most of the day, pouring in through the glass doors and the myriad skylights that made   
up the room's sharply-angled ceiling.  
  
He hesitated as he came to the doorway; inside the room, he could see the back of his mother's   
head as she sat on one of the outward-facing couches, her hair twined with the leaves and flowers   
that were her crown at that time of year.  
  
A deep breath, then he moved to stand in front of her. "Mother," he greeted quietly.  
  
She raised her head, looked at him through sorrow-dimmed green eyes. She held out her open arms   
toward him. "Thranduil," she said.  
  
A soft sound of grief escaped him as he sat on the couch beside her, climbing into her embrace as   
he used to when he was younger.  
  
Gently, she stroked his golden hair. For a long moment they stayed that way, both giving and   
receiving comfort from the other. Then she took him gently by the shoulders and pushed him away   
slightly so that she could look into eyes so similar to how her own had looked... before she   
received knowledge of Oropher's death.  
  
"Mother," he said again, voice cracking. He swallowed, tried again. "Mother, you rule the Wood   
now. You are Queen--"  
  
She was already shaking her head. "No, my son. My time here is over. Soon, I will be reunited   
with my beloved Oropher. It is up to you, King Thranduil of the Greenwood, to rule our realm as   
is your birthright."  
  
"Mother?" he said again, voice trembling as he looked upon her with eyes darkening with the   
growing understanding of what she was telling him. Going to be with Oropher? But his father   
was... No! "Mother, no!"  
  
"It is far too late to change my fate, my son. There is, however, something that you can do to   
ease my mind."  
  
"Anything!"  
  
She smiled softly, cupped his cheek tenderly in one gentle hand. Then she looked toward a   
doorway, one that led further into the royal family's private quarters -- the hallway that held   
the doors to the bedchambers. "Legolas!" she called.  
  
//Legolas?// Thranduil thought, confused. //Who is that? Why is a strange Elf in our   
bedchambers...?//  
  
The answer to those questions came in the form of the *smallest* Elf he had seen in a very long   
time. Golden hair the color of Thranduil's own spilled unbound around the small, round face and   
tiny shoulders; bright green eyes sparkling with the light of the stars stared fearlessly around   
the room. One tiny hand clutched tightly to a slender stick from which trailed a number of   
bright, colorful ribbons. The ends of the ribbons were ornamented with small bells and beads   
that made the ribbons flare out and make cheerful noises whenever the stick was twirled.  
  
"Mama!" the tiny Elf cried joyfully, running on skinny legs to his mother, falling only twice,   
glaring at the rug distrustfully after each fall before picking himself up and keeping on.  
  
Thranduil stared in shock at the Elfling that was currently climbing all over the Queen of the   
Greenwood. "'Mama'?" he asked.  
  
Still smiling that soft, sad smile, she hugged the young Elf to her even as he curled up on her   
lap and started playing with one of the ribbons of his toy. "Thranduil, this is Legolas. He was   
conceived the night before our forces marched to the Alliance. He is nearly nine years old. He   
is your brother."  
  
As Thranduil sat there, blinking in shock and looking like someone had just crept up behind him   
and poured icewater down his back, she looked to the young Elf on her lap.  
  
"Legolas?" she said, catching the young one's attention. "Legolas, this is Thranduil."  
  
Big green eyes looked to Thranduil, then back to his mother. "Mama?"  
  
"Go on, Legolas. He won't hurt you."  
  
At her reassurance, the Elfling climbed from her lap, then went over to plop down on the couch   
beside Thranduil. "Hi," he said brightly. "I's Leg'las." A frown marred the tiny forehead.   
"LeGOlas." He smiled proudly.  
  
Thranduil smiled at the Elfling's efforts. "Hello," he answered. "I am Thranduil."  
  
"T... Tran... th..." Legolas sighed. "Hard."  
  
The Queen caught Thranduil's attention even as Legolas kept trying to pronounce Thranduil's name,   
nearly going cross-eyed as he did, little pink tongue sticking out slightly as he tried to make   
his mouth form the 'th' sound.  
  
"Thranduil, I want you to take Legolas as your own. Be as a father to him."  
  
"What? But-"  
  
"Please, my son. It would ease my mind to know that you look after him so, now that I cannot and   
will soon be gone."  
  
He hesitated only briefly; she knew he could never refuse her anything, let alone something that   
important to her. At last, he nodded, gathering his small brother into his embrace.  
  
At Legolas' questioning look, he said simply, "You can call me Ada."  
  
"Ada!" Legolas crowed, small arms hugging Thranduil tightly about the neck, briefly cutting off   
his air supply.  
  
Thranduil stroked the silky golden hair. "Yes. I am Ada."  
  
Their mother smiled.  
  
***  
  
Within the week, their mother had joined their father in the Halls of Mandos.  
  
Everyone who knew the truth of Legolas' birth was sworn to secrecy on pain of banishment by their   
new, young king.  
  
And so Legolas Oropherion grew up Thranduilion and never knew that he was not his brother's son.  
  
***  
  
Thranduil finished the tale, sat staring at his hands, twisting them together in his lap in   
uncharacteristic nervousness. Finally, he gathered the courage to look to where Legolas sat   
silently beside him. He saw him there, eyes wide and mouth open in shock.  
  
"Legolas?" he asked.  
  
Legolas shook himself, closed his mouth. He stared at the King. "I am not your son," he said   
slowly, as if still trying to comprehend what he had been told. "I am your brother?"  
  
Thranduil nodded simply. "Yes."  
  
"My mother...."  
  
"Is my mother as well."  
  
Legolas shook his head again, dazed. His Ada was not his Ada. But he was still Mirkwood's   
prince by birth. Oropherion, not Thranduilion.  
  
No.  
  
"Ada, I-"  
  
"Legolas, I just told you. As much as I would want it to be true, I am not-"  
  
"You might not have sired me, but you raised me. You were there for all those important things.   
Not him. I never knew him." He looked a little confused. "At least, I don't remember having   
known him."  
  
"You did not. He was killed before you met. I am still not sure if he knew about you or not. If   
he did, he did not share it with me."  
  
Legolas waved it away as inconsequential. "It matters not. As I was saying, Ada, as far as I am   
concerned, *you* are my Ada. And now my brother as well, though that might take some getting   
used to." He smiled at Thranduil. "And like I said before, I will always love you. You are my   
Ada, whether or not you are my sire."  
  
Thranduil smiled, hugged the younger Elf to him again. "I love you, my son, my brother."  
  
Legolas returned the hug just as strongly. "And I you, my father, my brother. Always."  
  
END  
  
.  
Aaaaawwwwwwwwww. So... much... sap.... I honestly don't know how that happened. *sigh* Ah, well.   
Hope you liked it, even though there is enough sugar at the end there to choke an Oliphant.   
*grin*  
  
Anyways, you know the drill: click the button down there and leave a review for the plotbunnies...   
they're coasting on a sugar-high right now, and get downright vicious when they come down....   
Help! *grin* (And let me know what you think of the idea of multiple "part 2"s!) 


End file.
